Method and apparatus for pattern tufting pile fabrics without loop robbing



y 1963 I H w. BALLARD ETAL 3,09

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PATTERN TUFTING PILE FABRICS WITHOUT LOOP ROBBING Filed Sept. 24, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1- FIGI.

VARIABLE SPEED CONTROL myeurofls HYDE W. BALLARD JOHN E. SMITH ATTY.

July 2, 1963 H. w. BALLARD ETAL METHOD AND APP 3,095,841 ARATUS FOR PATTERN TUFTING PILE FABRICS WITHOUT LOOP ROBBING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 24, 1957 INVENTORS HYDE w. BALLARD 7' JOHN E.SM|TH H. w. BALLARD ETAL 3,095,841 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PATTERN TUFTING PILE FABRICS WITHOUT LOOP ROBBING July 2, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 24, 1957 INVENTORS;

AT T Y.

United States Patent 3,095,841 METHOD AND APPTUS FOR PATTERN TUFT- ING PILE FABRICS WITHOUT LOOP ROBBING Hyde W. Ballard, West Chester, and John E. Smith, Norristown, Pa., assignors to James Lees and Sons Company, Bridgeport, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 24, 1957, Ser. No. 685,968 2 Claims. (Cl. 112-79) This invention relates to tufting machines and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing variable height pile in a tufted fabric without robbing pile from previously formed pile projections.

This application relates to the subject matter of Ballard application, Serial No. 682,119", filed September 5, 1957.

In the application referred to above there was disclosed means for providing various height pile projections in accordance with a predetermined pattern without with drawing pile yarn from a previously formed projection. Also, in the above application, it was disclosed that patterned high and low pile can be produced by means of variable tension applied to the yarns in such a way that the high tension yarn ends to form low pile are pulled or released from their loopers in advance of the relatively low or lower tensioned yarn ends which ultimately form the high pile. The loopers are constructed to facilitate this selective and variable releasing of the differently tensioned yarn ends. The present invention carries forward this conception by introducing a timed yarn pulling element which deflects yarn supplied to the needles so that increased tension is applied to individual yarn ends or groups of yarn ends making low pile whereby these yarn ends are disengaged from the associated loopers prior to normal disengagement which would occur for yarn ends making high pile.

A primary object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a pattern tufting apparatus which operates to disengage selected yarn ends from associated loopers in accordance with predetermined tension applied to the selected yarn ends.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tensioning beater actuatable in timed relation with the needle travel which deflects all the yarn ends during upward travel of the needle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a springloaded or resilient looper which is displacable to facilitate release of pile projections when a tension increment is applied to selected yarn ends.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a carpet tufting machine with the present invention applied thereto,

FIGS. 2-5 are diagrammatic sectional details showing the cycle of operation for the formation of low pile projections in accordance with the present invention, and

FIGS. '69 show schematically the operation of the invention during the cycle for forming high pile projections.

The invention comprises essential-1y the provision of means for superimposing additional tension to some or all of the pile yarns supplied to the needles of a carpet tufting machine. The additional tensioning element is used in conjunction with one of the well-known pattern tufting tension control attachments such as that shown in the above application or in British Patent No. 735,019 of 1955 to Card. The present invention finds its greatest utility when used in conjunction with a resilient or displacable looper, several forms of which have been described and claimed in the above application, but a rigid looper can be employed depending upon the nature of the fabric and the type of yarn being used.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a conventional tufting machine has an oscillating needle "ice bar 10 which carries a bank of needles 11. which penetrate a ground fabric F fed across throat plate 12 by means of feed roller 13 and pin take-up roller 14. Needle bar 10 is oscillated in the usual manner by a crankshaft 15 in housing 16 and connected to shaft 17 by means of a connecting rod 18. A presser foot 20 is supported from the rod guide 21 by means of a bracket 22. The pile yarn Y is fed from a yarn source, not shown, such as a creel, over variable tensioning pattern device 23 of a type well known in the art and referred to above. From the pattern attachment 23 the yarn Y is carried through a series of stationary guides 24, 25, 26, and the oscillating thread jerker 27 attached to needle bar 10*. The looper rockshaft 28 carries a bracket 29 in which the loopers 30 are secured by means of setscrews 31.

The loopers illustrated in FIGS. 2-9' are bendable to permit release or detachment of pile projections when a condition of elevated tension exists in the loop which is formed over the looper bill 32. The upwardly projecting shank 33 of looper 30 is attenuated so that it may bend as shown in FIG. 3 in the manner to be described more fully hereinafter. The path of the yarn between guides 25 and 26 carries it past a special tensioning device 35 which comprises a shaft 36 journaled at each side of the tufting machine and carrying a parallel beater arm 37 mounted on shaft 36 by standards 38. The shaft 36 is driven in timed relation to the oscillation of needle bar 1.0 by means of a sprocket 39 on crankshaft 15, a sprocket 40 on shaft 36, and a connecting chain 41.

In operation the timing of the beater arm 37 in relation to the movement of the needle will be described in more detail in FIGS. 2-9. In FIG. 2 the needle 11 has carried the yarn Y to its maximum depth as indicated at 45 where it is engaged by the bill 32 of looper 36. However, in the case of FIGS. 2-5 the pattern attachment 23 is calling for low pile projections such as 46, 46 so that a pre-determined initial tension is present in the length of yarn Y between the pattern attachment 23 and the eye of needle 11. At approximately the time needle 11 reach-es the bottom of its stroke and the yarn is engaged by looper 30, the beater 37 revolves to engage the span of yarn between guides 25 and 26. This action of beater 37 shown in FIG. 3 suddenly applies increased tension to the already tensioned yarn Y so that the pile projection formed by the needle becomes disengaged from the bill of looper 32 either with the assistance of looper displacement due to its resiliency or simply due to the added tension increment without looper displacement. In either event the added tension applied by beater 37 partially retracts the pile projection P through the fabric F but without withdrawing any yarn from the previous projection 4-6. FIG. 4 shows the beater 37 at the point of disengagement with the yarn Y and with the needle raised in position for the ground fabric to be advanced. Since added tension has been removed from yarn Y between guides 25 and 26, sufficient slack yarn will be supplied to permit the fabric to be advanced as shown in FIG. 5 without danger of withdrawing yarn from the last-formed projection P. The cycle then is ready to be repeated either with addi tional low projections or, in the event the pattern attachment callsfor a high projection, the operation will be as shown in FIGS. '6-9.

The relative position of the needle in the yarn shown in FIG. 6 is identical to that shown in FIG. 2, the only difference being that there is a condition of slack existing in yarn Y in the needle between the pattern attachment 23 and the needle. This condition will be understood to be relative but the showing of the yarn in FIG. 6 has been exaggerated to indicate that a difference in tension is present between the conditions of FIG. 2 and those of FIG. 6. The same applies to FIG. 7 but here the slack condition previously existing in yarn Y permits the beater 37 to displace the yarn between guides 25 and 26 without causing it to be disengaged from the bill 32 of looper 30. Therefore, the looper is not bendable or otherwise displacable so that the pile projection P1 remains on the looper and is held down to form a relatively high loop. When the looper rockshaft 28 oscillates to disengage the looper from the projection P1, the cycle can repeat to duplicate another high projection or to form low projections in accordance with the dictation of the pattern attachment 23.

It will be understood that a tufted pile fabric of the type described is produced by inserting the projections down through the ground fabric F so that reference to a high projection in the fabric when turned up side down as a floor covering is the same as a projection tufted to a greater depth in the machine. The present apparatus is inexpensive to install and to maintain. The timing of the beater as well as the resiliency of the looper, the timing of rockshaft 28, and the angle of looper bill 32 will be controlled and inter-related in accordance with'the weight of yarn being used and the type of fabric produced. Furthermore, suitable adjustment of the above factors together with the amount of yarn displacement between guides 25 and 26 which is in turn controlled by the length of standards 38 may be utilized to provide different or varying height of pile projections during the tufting operation.

' Having thus described our invention,

We claim:

1. The method of tufting a pile fabric to provide various height pile projections in thesame transverse and longitudinal rows which comprises supplying a series of yarn ends to the needles of a tufting machine under various degrees of tension, inserting all of said yarn ends to a maximum depth through a ground fabric, holding said yarn ends on the opposite side of said ground fabric, applying an additional tension increment to all of said yarn ends at approximately the point of maximum insertion, releasing selected pile projections due to said added increment of tension, and partially withdrawing said released projections through the ground fabric after maximum insertion and before maximum elevation of the needles.

2. A multi-needle pile fabric tufting machine corn prising a series of oscillating needles, means for supplying pile yarns to each of said needles, means for selectively applying variable tension to some of said pile yarns, a beater mounted on the tufting machine and positioned to cyclically engage all of the pile yarns, means for actuating said heater in timed relation to the oscillation of said needles, and a tension responsive yieldable looper for engaging each of said yarns upon being inserted through a backing fabric by the needles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,782,741 Smith Feb. 26, 1957 2,784,689 MacCaffray Mar. 12, 1957 2,810,471 Shattuck Oct. 22, 1957 2,842,079 Rice July 8, 1958 2,842,080 Hoeselbarth July 8, 1958 2,850,994 Crawford Sept. 9, 1958 

1. THE METHOD OF TUFTING A PILE FABRIC TO PROVIDE VARIOUS HEIGHT PILE PROJECTIONS IN THE SAME TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL ROWS WHICH COMPRISES SUPPLYING A SERIES OF YARN ENDS TO THE NEEDLES OF A TUFTING MACHINE UNDER VARIOUS DEGREES TENSION, INSERTING ALL OF SAID YARN ENDS TO A MAXIMUM DEPTH THROUGH A GROUND FABRIC, HOLDING SAID YARN ENDS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID GROUND FABRIC; APPLYING AN ADDITIONAL TENSION INCREMENT TO ALL OF SAID YARN ENDS AT APPROXIMATELY THE POINT OF MAXIMUM INSERTION, RELEASING SELECTED PILE PROJECTIONS DUE TO SAID ADDED INCREMENT OF TENSION, AND PARTIALLY WITHDRAWING SAID RELEASED PROJECTIONS THROUGH THE GROUND FABRIC AFTER MAXIMUM INSERTION AND BEFORE MAXIMUM ELEVATION OF THE NEEDLES. 